The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

Copyright notice

IIBA

®

, BABoK

®

, CBAP

®

, CCBA

®

, ECBA

TM

are registered Trademarks of the International

Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®), Canada.

All trademarks and copyrights mentioned herein are the possession of their respective

owners. We make no claim of ownership by the mention of products that contain these

marks.

Contents of this document should not be disclosed to any unauthorized person. This

document may not, in whole or in part, be reduced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical.

This publication may be used in assisting aspirants for IIBA

®

examination.

It does not warrant that the use of this publication will ensure passing the IIBA

®

examination.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

Introduction

As the book title suggests, this book is a guidebook for the aspirants of the IIBA

®

certification examinations from IIBA

®

, Canada. We value your time and hence the book is

designed to be extremely specific – That is, to help you pass the certification examination

with least possible effort.

This book is authored by qualified IIBA

®

trainers who have helped many other participants

clear the IIBA

®

examinations in the very first attempt. They are also regular trainers for IIBA

®

preparations in both corporate and open-hose workshops and have trained participants

across the world – USA, Australia, Middle East, South East Asia, Europe and Africa.

Feedbacks and suggestions on the book

We will be glad and thankful if you can share your feedbacks and suggestions on the book.

Please send your feedbacks and suggestions to Info@AdaptiveUS.com.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide 
 
© Adaptive US                 Be IIBA Certified in 3 months. Guaranteed.               Page 4 
Table of Contents 
COPYRIGHT NOTICE .......................................................................................... 2 
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 
FEEDBACKS AND SUGGESTIONS ON THE BOOK .............................................. 3 
1.  INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 6 
WHAT IS IIBA®?.............................................................................................. 6 
WHAT IS BABOK®? ........................................................................................ 6 
2.  CBAP – CERTIFIED BUSINESS ANALYSIS PROFESSIONAL ........................................................................... 7 
WHAT AND WHY OF CBAP® CERTIFICATIONS ........................................... 7 
TARGET AUDIENCE FOR CBAP® .................................................................... 7 
ELIGIBILITY FOR CBAP® .................................................................................. 7 
CBAP® CERTIFICATION EXAM TIPS .............................................................. 8 
3.  ECBA – ENTRY CERTIFICATE IN BUSINESS ANALYSIS ............................................................................... 13 
WHAT AND WHY OF ECBA........................................................................... 13 
TARGET AUDIENCE FOR ECBA ...................................................................... 13 
ELIGIBILITY FOR ECBA .................................................................................... 13 
ECBA QUESTION PATTERN ............................................................................ 14 
EXAMINATION WEIGHTAGE – KA WISE ......................................................... 14 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION .......................................................................... 15 
CERTIFICATION PROCESS ................................................................................ 15 
PREPARING THE APPLICATION........................................................................ 15 
TIPS FOR THE CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION ................................................ 15 
4.  CCBA - CERTIFICATION OF CAPABILITY IN BUSINESS ANALYSIS .............................................................. 17 
WHAT AND WHY OF CCBA®? .................................................................... 17 
TARGET AUDIENCE FOR CCBA® ................................................................. 17 
ELIGIBILITY FOR CCBA® ............................................................................... 17 
CCBA® QUESTION PATTERN ....................................................................... 18 
EXAMINATION WEIGHTAGE – KA WISE ......................................................... 18 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION .......................................................................... 18 
CERTIFICATION PROCESS ................................................................................ 19 
PREPARING THE APPLICATION........................................................................ 19 
TIPS FOR CCBA® CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION ....................................... 19 

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

5. ABOUT ADAPTIVE US INC. ..................................................................................................................... 22

UNIQUE BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH US .................................................... 23

OUR KEY CLIENTS ............................................................................................ 23

ADAPTIVE WORKSHOPS CATALOGUE ............................................................ 24

ADAPTIVE SUXEED: WORLD’S #1 BA LEARNING PLATFORM .................... 25

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

1. Introduction

What is IIBA®?

The International Institute of Business analysis (IIBA

®

) was founded in Toronto, Canada in

October of 2003 to support the business analysis community by:

• Creating and developing awareness and recognition of the value and contribution of

the business analyst.

• Defining the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge.

• Providing a forum for knowledge sharing and contribution to the business analysis

profession.

• Publicly recognizing and certifying qualified practitioners through an internationally

acknowledged certification program.

What is BABoK®?

Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABoK®) contains a description of generally accepted

practices in the field of business analysis. It gives a guidance on the skills and knowledge that

business analysts must possess. Contents of BABoK

®

have been verified thoroughly by

practitioners. BABoK

®

does not mandate that the practices described should be followed under

all circumstances. Any BABoK® practices MUST be tailored to the specific business analysis

contexts.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

2. CBAP – Certified Business Analysis Professional

What and Why of CBAP® Certifications

Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) is the business analysis certification provided

by IIBA for Senior business analysts with a minimum of 5+ years of Business Analysis

experience. This is world’s most recognized BA certification. Read more about this here.

The following are some of the benefits of becoming a CBAP

®

:

• Be recognized for your competency in BA.

• Business analysis is the fastest growing career opportunity for IT professionals.

• Better job prospects.

• Better salary.

Target Audience for CBAP®

• Seasoned business analysts

• Business analysis Consultants

• Trainers

• Current CCBAs

Eligibility for CBAP®

• Minimum 7500 hours of BA-related work in the last 10 years. Minimum 900 hours in

each of 4 of the 6 BABoK

®

knowledge areas.

• Professional development: 35 hours of verifiable BABoK

®

coursework in the last 4

years. Adaptive US Inc. is an authorized EEP of IIBA

®

, its trainings provide desired

PDUs for the CBAP

®

certification examination.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

• References: Two references from a career manager, client (internal or external) or

CBAP

®

. One of the references must be current.

• Signed code of conduct.

Adaptive US provides a comprehensive CBAP

®

Application Simulator.

CBAP® Certification Exam Tips

CBAP® Question pattern

• Scenario-based (~65-70%) and Case study (~30-35%) examination.

• Longer cases (1-1.5 pages) of information having 3 to 5 questions each

• Multiple choice answers – Only one correct option

• 120 questions

• 3.5 hours

Examination weightage – KA wise

Domain

% Distribution

Business analysis planning and monitoring

14%

Elicitation and collaboration

12%

Requirements life cycle management

15%

Strategy analysis

15%

Requirements analysis and design (solution) definition

30%

Solution evaluation

14%

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

(i) Understand BABoK® Themes

• Understand what BABoK® believes to be the right thing for Business Analysis.

• Read Adaptive CBAP® V3 Study Guide 2 to 3 times and BABoK® 2 to 3 times.

• Understand the role of business analysts from BABoK® perspective.

(ii) Review the knowledge areas

• Review understanding of each knowledge area, its purpose, tasks, their purpose, and

elements.

• Validate your understanding of KA/processes through Adaptive practice questions

and question banks

(iii) Be happy – No memory-based questions

• No need to memorize inputs/guidelines & tools /outputs for tasks.

• There is no memory based direct questions or match the following type of questions.

(iv) Exam and Question Pattern

• Single correct option questions.

• Roughly 40% case-based questions.

• Some cases can be small paragraphs and some run into 2 pages.

• Case based questions require time to go through them.

• Mark the case questions in the first attempt and then review them later.

• Try completing all scenario-based questions in the first 2 hours. This requires one to

complete ~40-45 scenario-based questions in 1 hour.

• Utilize the remaining 90 minutes for case questions + review.

• Few questions can be bouncers – just dodge them.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

• Do not leave any question unanswered as there is no negative marking.

(iv) Understand Business analysis techniques

There could be plenty of scenario-based questions on Business analysis techniques, like what

technique is suitable under a given situation. For example, if question is talking about life

cycle of an object, it's state diagram.

(v) Know UML

• Understand Data flow diagram, Use case diagram and UML.

• Know terms like Extend, Include, Generalization, Inheritance etc.

(vi) Choose right actions

• Situations are provided to Business Analysts and they are asked whether (s)he will go

for corrective measure or preventive measure.

• Use Adaptive flow charts in the CBAP® study guide.

• Adaptive drill and simulations contain large number of such questions.

(vii) Understand requirements characteristics

• Learn to identify the missing characteristic in a given requirement.

(viii) Exam and Question Pattern

• Simple numerical questions using data presented in a tabular format.

• Percentage calculation, per day calculation or revenue/ cost calculations, ROI

calculations.

• No Net present value (NPV) calculation.

(ix) Manage time

• Take the test in 2

nd

half of the day.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

• The best day would be after a short break / long weekend.

• Visit the exam center prior and confirm with the exam center in-charge.

• Take 2 valid government issued IDs with photograph.

• Sleep well before the exam night.

• Do not try to cram BABoK just before the exam.

• Eat lightly. Carry something to eat, if you like chocolates.

• Go to the restroom prior to the exam.

• Time management is extremely crucial.

• Although not complex, case-based questions require significant time.

• For case-based questions, focus on the last 2 paragraphs of the case.

• For all questions, learn to eliminate irrelevant options.

• Take a short (2-minute breaks) after each hour to rejuvenate.

• Attempt all 6 simulations available in the Adaptive Question Bank.

(x) Ask for a Calculator

• Ask for a calculator at the Prometric Centre.

• It’s very useful for calculation-based questions.

(xi) Attempt all questions

• Questions are from all parts of BABoK

®

except perspectives.

• Attempt all questions as there is no negative marking. You don’t lose anything by

attempting the question which you don’t know.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

(xii) Use elimination technique

• Use elimination technique to focus on the 2 most likely answers.

(xiii) Be cautious of distractors

• Question will be framed in such a way that most of the times it will point out the

similarities between the two, but one or two words will make the difference. Often

very similar sounding words may be used: Work break down structure vs. Work break

down system.

• Stick to BABoK terminology – make yourself familiar with BABoK vocabulary

document.

(xiv) Identify easy pickings

• By taking a close look into the table and data provided in the questions, with basic

maths percentage calculation, day calculation etc. one should be able to crack it.

(xv) Do not ponder over questions for too long

• Mark difficult questions for review and come back to it later.

(xvi) Your understanding is vital

• Focus on understanding the scenarios/cases.

(xvii) Stick to BABoK® – Do not try to apply your own experiences

• Your answers must match BABoK® guideline.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

3. ECBA – Entry Certificate in Business Analysis

What and Why of ECBA

ECBA

TM

stands for Entry Certificate in Business Analysis, the 1st level certification provided by

International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA

®

), Canada (www.IIBA.org).

Following are some of the benefits of becoming a ECBA

TM

:

✓ Be recognized for your competency in business analysis.

✓ Business analysis is the fastest growing career opportunity for IT professionals.

✓ People with domain experience can move into IT sector by becoming a business

analyst.

✓ Better job prospects.

✓ Better salary.

Target Audience for ECBA

ECBA

TM

examination targets the following audience:

✓ Individuals entering the BA profession,

✓ Students enrolled in BA academic programs,

✓ New graduates,

✓ Professionals transitioning careers, and

✓ Functional managers who are not BAs but manage them.

Eligibility for ECBA

✓ Prior business analysis-related work is not required.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

✓ Professional development: 21 hours of verifiable BABOK

®

coursework in the last 4

years. Adaptive US Inc. is an authorized EEP of IIBA

®

, its trainings provide desired

PDUs for the ECBA

TM

certification examination.

✓ References: Not required.

✓ Prior knowledge area expertise is not required.

✓ Signed code of conduct is required.

ECBA Question pattern

✓ This will be a knowledge-based examination.

✓ 50 multiple choice questions

✓ 1 hour proctored online test

Examination weightage – KA wise

Business Analysis Knowledge

Domain

% Distribution

Business Analysis & the BA Professional

2.5%

Underlying Competencies

5%

Business Analysis Key Concepts

5%

Techniques

12.5%

BABOK® Guide Knowledge Areas

Domain

% Distribution

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring

5%

Elicitation and Collaboration

20%

Requirements Life Cycle Management

20%

Strategy Analysis

5%

Requirements Analysis and Design Definition

24%

Solution Evaluation

1%

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

Additional Information

Application expires within 1 year from approval

3 exams can be taken within a year without requiring any waiting time in between

Certification process

✓ Become an IIBA

®

member at www.IIBA.org.

✓ Benefits include free, unlimited access to the BABOK

®

and 500+ online books, local,

national and international networking opportunities and ability to influence the

growth and direction of the BA profession.

✓ Take required training from an IIBA

®

EEP, such as Adaptive US Inc.

(www.AdaptiveUS.com).

✓ Download BABOK

®

and start reading.

✓ Join a study group, or start one.

✓ Begin preparing for the application.

Preparing the application

✓ Begin the application at least 2 weeks before you plan to apply.

✓ Download and use Adaptive Application Simulator.

✓ Apply within 1 month of when you plan to write.

✓ You can refer application process at IIBA

®

web-site.

Tips for the certification examination

✓ Please keep it in your mind that ECBA

TM

is a test on your knowledge of BABOK

®

, not

your knowledge on BA practice as you may be following in your workplace.

✓ Answers need to be as per BABOK

®

, not what you may think appropriate.

✓ Questions are pretty much straight forward.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

✓ No long answers. All questions had single statement answers.

✓ Focus on requirements analysis, elicitation and requirements lifecycle management

✓ Have a mental map of BA activities

✓ Focus on the purpose of the tasks and techniques

✓ Questions with diagrams and calculations are unlikely

✓ Questions are expected to be single sentence questions

✓ Understand the various stakeholder roles

✓ Questions on advanced UML unlikely

✓ Understand requirements characteristics

✓ Questions on inputs and techniques for task

✓ Questions from advanced techniques such as decision analysis financial analysis or

business model canvas unlikely

✓ Understand types of tracing requirements

✓ Avoid answers which are prescriptive. BABOK

®

does not provide any specific level of

rigor to be adopted in any activity.

✓ Be careful with answers which say something should be 100% or 0% - It’s very hard to

find such digital options in life.

✓ Avoid terms which are not mentioned in the BABOK

®

. Such a term can be technically

correct, for example a specific company may have a Wok Breakdown System –

however BABOK

®

does not have any such term. BABOK

®

term is Work breakdown

structure.

✓ Multiple options can be technically correct; choose the BEST option.

✓ Do not trust long lists.

✓ Have good internet - Have backup for internet connection

✓ Changing options for answers is difficult, so try to be right the first time

✓ Observe the time elapsed against the progress made

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

4. CCBA - Certification of Capability in Business

Analysis

What and Why of CCBA®?

CCBA

®

stands for Certification of Capability in Business Analysis, the 2

nd

level certification

provided by IIBA

®

for business analysts with 2 to 3 years of business analysis experience.

The benefits of becoming a CCBA

®

are:

✓ Be recognized for your competency in business analysis.

✓ Business analysis is the fastest growing career opportunity for IT professionals.

✓ People with domain experience can move into IT sector by becoming a business analyst.

✓ Better job prospects.

✓ Better salary.

Target Audience for CCBA®

✓ Current ECBA

TM

✓ Developing business analysts

✓ Hybrid business analysts (PMs, testers, QA, change managers, designers)

✓ Product owners/managers

✓ Non-BA consultants

Eligibility for CCBA®

✓ Minimum 3750 hours of business analysis-related work in the last 7 years.

✓ Professional development: 21 hours of verifiable BABoK

®

coursework in the last 4 years.

Adaptive US is an authorized EEP of IIBA

®

, its trainings provide desired PDUs for the

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

CCBA

®

certification examination.

✓ References: Two references. (One must be current). References can be Client, Career

manager or a CBAP

®

.

✓ Minimum 900 hours in each of the 2 knowledge areas or 500 hrs in each of the 4

knowledge areas.

✓ Signed code of conduct.

CCBA® Question pattern

✓ This will be a scenario based examination.

✓ Situations are usually described in 2-4 sentences. Some questions can have up to 10

sentences.

✓ 130 Multiple choice questions

✓ 3 hours

Examination weightage – KA wise

Domain

% Distribution

Business analysis planning and monitoring

12%

Elicitation and collaboration

20%

Requirements life cycle management

18%

Strategy analysis

12%

Requirements analysis and design definition

32%

Solution evaluation

6%

Additional Information

• Application expires within 1 year from approval.

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

• 3 exams can be taken within a year without requiring any waiting time in between.

Certification process

• Take the required training from an IIBA

®

EEP.

• Become an IIBA

®

member at www.IIBA.org.

• Benefits include free, unlimited access to the BABoK

®

and 300+ online books, local,

national and international networking opportunities and ability to influence the growth

and direction of the BA profession.

• Download the BABoK

®

and start reading.

• Join a study group, or start one.

• Begin preparing for the application.

Preparing the application

✓ Begin the application at least 2 weeks before you plan to apply.

✓ It can take anywhere from 6-10 hours to complete.

✓ Download and use Adaptive CCBA

®

application simulator.

✓ Apply within 3 to 6 months of when you plan to write.

✓ You can refer CCBA

®

page for a detailed application process in the IIBA

®

web-site.

Tips for CCBA® certification examination

• Please keep in mind that CCBA

®

is a test on your knowledge of BABoK

®

, not your

knowledge on the BA practices that you may be following in your workplace.

• Answers need to be as per BABoK

®

.

• Focus on requirements analysis, elicitation and requirements lifecycle management

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

• Have a mind-map of BA activities, inputs and outputs. Adaptive BABoK mind map serves

as a great aid to remember tasks, inputs, outputs etc.

• Questions are scenario based

• Questions are pretty much straightforward.

• No long descriptive questions. However, there are questions with diagrams.

• No long answers. All questions have single statement answers.

• Focus on the purpose of the tasks

• Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques

• Questions are expected to be 3 to 5 sentences long

• Understand the various stakeholder roles

• Understand how techniques help in task goal achievement

• Understand requirements characteristics

• Can expect few questions on inputs and techniques for task

• Understand the types of tracing requirements

• Observe time elapsed against progress made – Target 50 questions per hour

• Mark questions for review

• Do not get nervous with the first few questions

• Avoid answers which are prescriptive. BABoK

®

does not provide any specific level of rigor

to be adopted in any activity.

• Be careful with answers which say something should be 100% or 0% - It’s very hard to

find such digital options in life.

• Avoid terms which are not mentioned in BABoK

®

. Such a term can be technically correct,

for example a specific company may have a Wok Breakdown System – however BABoK

®

does not have any such term. BABoK

®

term is Work breakdown structure.

• Multiple options can be technically correct; choose the BEST option.

• Do not trust long lists.

• Do not over eat just before test

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

• Go to the rest room prior to the test

• Stay cool!

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

5. About Adaptive US Inc.

Adaptive US Inc. provides CBAP

®

, CCBA

®

,

ECBA

TM

, IIBA AAC

®

online trainings,

question banks, study guides, simulators,

flash cards, audio books, digital learning

packs across the globe.

Adaptive US Inc. is the only training

organization to offer success guarantee

and all-inclusive plans for its workshops.

Key facts

✓ World’s #1 IIBA

®

BABoK

®

V3 training

organization

✓ World’s largest BA publisher and assessments

provider

✓ Premiere Partner to IIBA

®

, Canada and IREB,

Germany

✓ 550+ certified BA professionals

✓ 300+ BA workshops – 5000+ BAs trained

✓ Our trainers are part of BABoK

®

V3 team

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

Unique benefits of working with us

Our key clients

Govern

ment

The Ultimate IIBA® Exam Guide

Adaptive workshops catalogue

Original text